The Digital What: A Filmmaker's Non-Techical Guide to Digital Effects

by Shilo T. McClean

For years, the makers of Hollywood's big-budget blockbusters have reveled in their use of cutting-edge digital technologies. Today, however, these once-costly, once-arcane technologies are less cost prohibitive for the independent filmmaker, and even relatively small, low-budget film and video productions utilize them regularly. Like it or not, most filmmakers in school or currently working professionally-including the "technically challenged"-need a basic knowledge of digital effects, which is where Shilo McClean's book becomes a necessity. The Digital What? is a concise and always entertaining overview of the basic concepts and processes behind the digital effects presently in use in the film industry. With this book, filmmakers can painlessly learn about such basic effects as blue/green-screen composites, crowd replication, image manipulation (flipping, replacing, reshaping, resizing, recoloring, retouching,relighting, painting over), wireframe models and texture maps, digital rotoscoping, common digital image resolutions and much, much more. Filmmakers will also learn invaluable tips about digital effects planning, pricing and use during both production and postproduction. Armed with The Digital What?, a filmmaker never again needs to idly nod his or her head while not understanding a single word the digital-effects technician says.

132 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002